Key:name

name
Description
The primary name: in general, the most prominent signposted name or the most common name in the local language(s)
Group: Names
Used on these elements
Documented values: 27
Incompatible with
noname=*
See also
name:ja=* name:ja-Hira=* name:ja-Latn=*
Status: de facto
Tools for this tag
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Wikidata
Q82799

This key is set to the primary name of the feature in the real world. It is the most important of several name-related keys.

Values

Main article: Names

As a rule of thumb, the primary name would be the most obvious name of the feature, the one that end users expect data consumers to expose in a label or other interface element. Here are the usual sources of primary names:

• The most prominent name on a sign posted on the feature itself, especially for a feature in the built environment
• The name of the feature on a sign elsewhere, such as a fingerpost
• Common or official usage, especially for a feature in the natural environment

You can use source:name=* to explicitly indicate how you determined the name of the feature.

Sometimes these sources disagree: a single feature may be known by a different name to different people or in different places. In case of doubt, OpenStreetMap favors the situation "on the ground". For example, the primary name of a disputed territory would match the usage of the side that has on-the-ground control of the territory. However, the on-the-ground rule is not absolute; you may need to use common sense:

• If a city is locally known by a nickname, it is better to put the nickname in loc_name=* and put the standard name into name=*, even if locals don't use the standard name as much.
• If a signpost abbreviates the name to save space, but the name can reasonably be spelled out in full, the name=* should also be spelled out in full.
• If an official name is unwieldy or obscure and few people use it in practice, even if it is signposted, it is better to put the official name in official_name=* or alt_name=* than to treat it as the primary name.
• If a sign is obviously in error, use not:name=* to prevent mappers without local knowledge from propagating the error in OpenStreetMap.

The primary name is generally in the local language or languages. If you are unfamiliar with the area, try to match local conventions. However, you may need to make an exception if the real name of a feature is in a different language than the predominant local language. For example, a tourist-oriented gift shop or a grocery that caters to an immigrant community may be named in a foreign language.

Do not use name=* if:

• The feature is unnamed in the real world. If it is of a type that is typically named, such as a street, use noname=yes to affirm that the omission of name=* is deliberate, rather than a problem to be fixed by another mapper.
• The feature is known by a generic term or description. Use a feature tag to indicate the type in a language-neutral, machine-readable way. You can also use description=* or note=* if other tags do not quite express what differentiates the feature from others of the same type.
• The feature is known by an address or reference number or code.

Variants

Key	Value	Element	Comment
name	User defined		The common default name. (Notes: For disputed areas, please use the name as displayed on, e.g., street signs for the name tag Put all alternatives into either localized name tags (e.g., name:tr/name:el) or the variants (e.g., loc_name/old_name/alt_name) Do not abbreviate words: Abbreviation (don't do it)
name:<lg>	User defined		Name in different language; e.g., name:fr=Londres. Note that all key variants below can use a language suffix. See: Multilingual names.
name:left, name:right	User defined		Used when a way has different names for different sides (e.g., a street that's forming the boundary between two municipalities).
int_name	User defined		International name (note: consider using language specific names instead; e.g., name:en=... - see above – International does not (necessarily) mean English).
loc_name	User defined		Local name.
nat_name	User defined		National name.
official_name	User defined		It has been created for country names but we need a clarification for other cases between "name", "int_name", "loc_name" and "official_name". Example: official_name=Principat d'Andorra (where "name" is name=Andorra).
old_name	User defined		Historical/old name.
reg_name	User defined		Regional name.
short_name	User defined		should be a recognizable, commonly used short version of the name, not a nick name (use alt_name for that), useful for searching (recognized by Nominatim).
sorting_name	User defined		name, used for correct sorting of names — This is only needed when sorting names cannot be based only on their orthography (using the Unicode Collation Algorithm with collation tables tailored by language and script, or when sorted lists of names are including names written in multiple languages and/or scripts) but requires ignoring some parts such as: ignoring leading articles, or lowering the relative importance of first names cited before a last name, ignoring the generic part of a street name when it occurs before the specific name (e.g., in French with "rue", "boulevard", "place", etc.), all of them being ignored at the primary sort level and not easily inferable by a preprocessing algorithm.
alt_name	User defined		Alternative name by which the feature is known. If there is a name that does not fit in any of the above keys, alt_name can be used, e.g., name=Field Fare Road and alt_name=Fieldfare Road, or name=University Centre and alt_name=Grad Pad. In rare cases, the key is used for multiple semicolon-separated names, e.g. alt_name=name1;name2;name3, but this usage is not preferred.
name_1, name_2, ...			Do not use this tag, suffixed name tagging for multiple values is deprecated.

This table is a wiki template with a default description in English. Editable here.

Key variants can be suffixed with date namespace suffix (such as "old_name:en:1921-1932").

All documented subkeys:

• Key:name:ar
• Key:name:be
• Key:name:bg
• Key:name:botanical
• Key:name:br
• Key:name:ca
• Key:name:carnaval
• Key:name:cdo
• Key:name:cy
• Key:name:de
• Key:name:en
• Key:name:etymology
• Key:name:etymology:wikidata
• Key:name:etymology:wikipedia
• Key:name:eu
• Key:name:fr
• Key:name:gem
• Key:name:gsw
• Key:name:hi
• Key:name:ja
• Key:name:kn
• Key:name:kn:iso15919
• Key:name:language
• Key:name:left
• Key:name:lt
• Key:name:mi
• Key:name:ml
• Key:name:mr
• Key:name:oc
• Key:name:pl
• Key:name:prefix
• Key:name:pronunciation
• Key:name:right
• Key:name:ru
• Key:name:ru:word stress
• Key:name:signed
• Key:name:sl
• Key:name:ta
• Key:name:te
• Key:name:tlh
• Key:name:uk:word stress
• Key:name:vi
• Key:name:vi-Hani
• Key:name:wikipedia

Multiple names

If you have multiple names for a feature, first try to choose a rich semantic tag like any of the ones in the table (like short_name=*, old_name=*, etc.). If none of them works, choose the alt_name=* tag. If there are multiple names that do not fit, alt_name=* can be used with semicolons.

Sometimes name=* itself can contain multiple values separated by semicolons:

• In multilingual regions or localities, multiple names in different languages may be relevant enough to include in name=*. A separator other than a semicolon, such as "/" or "-", may be customary locally. This is not a substitute for language-specific keys, such as name:en=* for English.
• Some international boundary features (often bodies of water) have multiple values in name=*, so as not to favor one country's preferred name over another's.
• In relatively rare cases, there may be a tie on less prominent features such as points of interest. For example, a single business may go by two names interchangeably and post each name on different sides of the building. Before overloading name=* with multiple values, make sure it is truly a tie and there is not a more structured way to represent the naming situation.

Some renderers turn semicolon delimiters into something more aesthetically pleasing, such as an em dash or line break, but many other data consumers assume only a single value in name=*, so a semicolon could appear verbatim, surprising users.

Road names

Road names, especially highway names, may commemorate individuals. Depending on the region and specific case, the road name may appear prominently at every junction, or it may appear only once or twice at either end of the road, or there may be some other arrangement. In many regions, a motorway may be named but only the route number is signposted. Use the name=* tag if the name is suitable for general usage (such as for navigation); otherwise, use the official_name=* or alt_name=* tag.

Additional data

• name=* tag is supposed to contain solely name, not to describe the type or location of the object or one of its other properties (such as height, elevation, operator, access restrictions, classification/certification/quality labels...).
• strapline=* can be used to describe the advertising slogan that is also posted on shops under their name

Editors

Many OpenStreetMap editors are providing a field for attribute name=* in their feature presets. StreetComplete has quests ("What is the name of this road/pedestrian street/square?" and "What is the name of this place? […]" ) to add the name=* tag for many features.

Possible tagging mistakes

• name=fixme ‒ Consider using fixme=*. Additional results: [1].

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• name=X ‒ Consider using fixme=*. Additional results: [2]

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• Name=*

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• name=* ‒ "*" does not mean any value

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• name_en=* ‒ use name:en=* instead

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• nombre=* ‒ Spanish

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• nom=* ‒ French

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• nome=* ‒ Italian, Portuguese

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

• 名称=* ‒ Chinese

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

See also

• name:etymology=* - The subject commemorated in the name of an element
• Multilingual names
• noname=yes - Used to mark the absence of a name, where something really does not have a name in reality
• strapline=* - Official strapline used in an advertising slogan next to the name, commonly seen on signs
• unnamed=* - Used to mark the absence of a name, when it was verified to have no name defined in reality. Consider using noname=* instead
• Key:description to describe a feature.